Tuesday, October 31, 2006

2007 Repsol Honda RC212V officially unveiled

2006 MotoGP world champ Nicky Hayden, with the bike he'll be riding in 2007

With Nicky Hayden having won the 2006 MotoGP World Championship, the Repsol Honda Team also showed the RC212V, their MotoGP bike for 2007. The bike is powered by an 800cc V4 engine (unlike the RC211V, which had a 990cc V5) and though it weighs the same, the new bike is said to be more nimble and easier to ride.

When asked to comment on the RC212V, Dani Pedrosa said ‘definitely the bike is smaller, so for me it's better because I can control the bike more easily.’ Nicky Hayden said that he enjoyed riding the new bike and that he's quite excited because the RC212V has got some 'pretty trick parts and it looks really cool.' He added that the new bike feels like it’s got a lot more traction, especially under acceleration, and that the power delivery feels a lot smoother.

"It feels a lot lighter but actually the weight is not much different. The bike definitely feels quite small and has a different feeling that I’ll have to get used to. We’re already going around the corners faster than the 990cc bike and it’s going to require a different style of riding and be a different breed of bike. It does have high corner entry and corner speed and I’ll have to adapt a few things with my style. I know we’ve made Valentino mad by taking his title, so I’m looking forward to taking him on next season. I want to come back next year and win again on this bike," said the Kentucky Kid. Handling and drivability, rather than top-end power alone, has been the focus for HRC while developing the new bike, which should bode well for Honda riders.

Satoru Horiike, Managing Director, HRC said that he was satisfied with the progress of the RC212V prototype. ‘We are confident that winter testing will be positive and look forward to being competitive in this exciting new era for MotoGP,’ he said. Yes, Horiike san. But you and the K. Kid can count on The Doctor making it as hard for you as he can. Rossi may be down, but he’s not out yet!